Colpitts Colliery

Overview

A tiny colliery beside the road near Slaley, south-east of Hexham, worked by William Wear in the 1890s and 1900s with a level and a shaft in a coal of the Millstone Grit; it was abandoned in 1908-09.

History

Colpitts Colliery stood beside the road (now the B6306) near Slaley, six miles south-south-east of Hexham, from at least the 1890s. It took its name from a nearby farm, whose own name may come from still older coal pits in the area. It was a small working in a very rural place, with a level and a shaft and a small tramway running from the level to the waste heap on its north side; its coal probably went to local households or a cottage industry nearby.

William Wear owned it in the 1890s, when it raised household coal with eight men in 1894. The workforce dwindled to six in 1896 and three or four from 1900 to 1905, working a seam in the Millstone Grit. Plans of the workings are dated as abandoned on 9 June 1908, and the seam appears among the abandonments of 1909. The 1920 Ordnance Survey map shows the colliery disused, and the area is now wooded.

Geology

A coal seam in the Millstone Grit.

Workings

A level and a shaft, with a small tramway from the level to the waste heap.

Closure

Plans dated as abandoned on 9 June 1908; listed among the abandonments of 1909; shown disused on the 1920 map.

What remains

The area is now wooded.

What's uncertain

Points where sources disagree or the record could not be settled; both accounts are kept. All open questions in the archive.

• The colliery took its name from a nearby farm, whose name may come from older coal pits in the area. (uncertain) ¹

Recorded claims

Individual factual claims, each attached to the source(s) that support it below. Where sources disagree, both are kept.

• Colpitts Colliery had a level and a shaft, with a small tramway from the level to the waste heap on its north side. ¹
• William Wear owned Colpitts Colliery in the 1890s; it employed eight men in 1894 and four in 1905. ²
• Colpitts worked a coal seam in the Millstone Grit, abandoned according to the inspector's report of 1909. ^2,3
• Plans of the Colpitts workings are dated as abandoned on 9 June 1908. ⁴
• The colliery took its name from a nearby farm, whose name may come from older coal pits in the area. (uncertain) ¹

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Colpitts Colliery — North East Heritage Library (Coals Archive)
2. (primary) Colpitts Colliery — Durham Mining Museum
3. (primary) Colpitts Colliery: catalogue of plans of abandoned mines — Durham Mining Museum
4. (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plan 21911698: Colpitts, unnamed seam, abandoned 9 June 1908 — British Geological Survey

Record created: 22 October 2026 · Last researched: 22 October 2026